About You Now
by JanineMay
Summary: SongFic based on an acoustic version of Sugababes About you now. When Morelli and Steph call it a day, Ranger is there to pick up the pieces, but it soon goes horribly wrong. Don't worry though, happy ending!


About You Now

**1 Shot**

_A little while ago, The Sugababes (a British girl group, for those of you who haven't heard of them) released an acoustic version of their single "About you now" That song is the inspiration for this story. For those of you who have been following "The assassination of President Plum" thanks for all your support. I'm really struggling to keep focus with it and would rather keep working on it and post the perfect story than rush and produce something crap, so please bare with me and if you have any ideas as to where it could go I would be grateful. Special shout outs to Mybrowneyes for Cross Roads and Building Blocks, fantastic story, and for the continuation of How many kids do we have. Also to Rangebabe for putting up with my rubbish focus of Asassination, and to Svendances, Amers3 and RedCharlie for your stories that have kept me occupied!!! Well done guys!! xx_

_This story is slightly OOC for Ranger and the merry men but please bare with me, it gets better!_

About a month ago, Morelli and me ended the relationship. It wasn't going anywhere and I couldn't hide my feelings for Ranger anymore. It wasn't the nicest split in history. Lots of swearing and Italian hand gestures. I stormed out of his house to the car when I remembered my car had gone to car heaven in a puff of smoke, AGAIN! In all the arguing I'd forgotten there was no way of me leaving, I went back in to the house, grabbed what I could, stuffing it in to a bag as a stormed out with what dignity I had left, deciding to walk home alone. It was a fairly pleasant evening and there weren't that many bad guys in Morelli's area of Trenton.

The darkness came down around me about 20 minutes into my walk and I let the tears fall. I guess I'd known for a while now it would come to an end soon, but I couldn't help but feel empty. I was pretty sure Ranger only loved me for what I could give him in the bedroom and my safety net that had always been there was now gone. I felt like I was falling and couldn't stop. I didn't know what I was going to do, so I just sat down on the sidewalk. Letting it all go, indulging in one major pity party. I was lost in my own thoughts when my spidey sense went off. Ranger was somewhere. I looked up to see him getting out of his HumVee and walking towards me. He stopped when he got to me and looked down at my sorry state. My hair was a mess, I was flushed with tears and I subconsciously checked my nose for snot. I just looked up at him through misty eyes and said it.

"I love you, Ranger"

"I love you to babe"

Relief flooded through me. He felt the same way and I knew that we could make it work. I stood up and he pulled me towards him, brushing my tears away with his fingers and kissing me. We kissed for what seemed like an eternity before he picked me up like a giant knight in urban armour and carried me to the car. We made love all night. Ranger was everything I ever needed and he just got me.

_Nobody gets me like you_

A month later and my fairy tale ending was falling apart in the garage forecourt at the Haywood building, headquarters of Rangeman Inc. There was no love in the air and I felt like his understanding of me had gone to heaven with the latest car I blew up. I'd never seen Ranger this angry before; he'd gone in to caveman overload. I was a mess. Covered in scratches, cuts and bruises from a run in with a skip I'd just encountered. I'd taken him on, on my own because Ranger was to enveloped with the expansion of Rangeman that started just a week after I moved in and apparently the bunch of merry men he employed were to scared of my penchant for danger attraction. It was a major case of "Well she's not my responsibility" and I was being sick of being passed around like the coffee chocolate that no one ever wanted. So with revenge thick in my head as the skips victim turned out to be a college friend of mine, I went to take on Leonard Bergs, arrested and (beyond belief) bailed out with charges of Rape, sexual assault with a weapon and murder. The takedown didn't go as well as hoped and now, here I am, my swelling black eye, a testament to how badly it had all gone. Kelly Green had been one of my best friends in college and I always regretted not staying in touch with her better.

Usually Ranger just sighs, picks me up, dusts me off and sends me to bed, but tonight that restraint had gone straight out the window. Normally I would of done this in private but I didn't care, the merry men could watch the chaos they'd caused by not helping and I hoped to god they got the shit kicked out of them once Ric calmed down.

"How could you be so fucking stupid Steph? The man is a murdering psycho, but you seem to intent on joining you friend in the obituaries to have realised that!"

His words stung me deep down.

"She was my best friend Ranger. I can't help but think that if we'd stayed in touch she might not be dead"

"Wrong, knowing your luck you probably would have been with her. I know how Morelli felt now, you really are impossible to control"

That was it, he knew how much Morelli had hurt me but he seemed intent to bring it all back.

"Well excuse me if the man who is supposed to love an protect me was to busy expanding his company to train me properly and his merry men are to scared to work with me. I don't know why I bothered moving in if I was only going to get in the way. What was it you said? On the books under entertainment? Well I'm fuckin sick of being the court jester Ranger. No more, I'm out"

"What"

"It wasn't meant to be like this Ranger, it was meant to be Wonder woman and Batman, taking on the world. I asked you about this file and you waved me away telling me to take someone with me, that I'd be fine. No-one else wanted to come, they were all scared of me, Tank made me feel like I was some kind of mistake in everyone's way and Lester just looked at me and laughed. You really are just like Morelli, little girl out her depth in the big boys world of bounty hunting. Well if you can't believe in me then this just isn't going to work. You promised me the training then forgot in the quest of expanding the company. Empty promises Ranger. I'm not putting myself through that again. I'm leaving"

That's the last I remember. My biggest regret. My stupidest mistake.

_Can we bring yesterday back around?_

_Cause I know how I feel about you now._

_I was dumb, I was wrong, I let you down._

_But I know how I feel about you now._

I'm remember sitting, tied up in a basement somewhere, no clue how I got there and I'm having the shit kicked out of me by Bergs. He'd gotten to me on my way back to my apartment. Each blow to me seemed harder than the last. BAM, broken ribs, BAM again, fractured cheek bone, cigarette burns, and the final blow, fractured skull. I don't know when it all ended but now I'm awake in a hospital, monitors bleeping. I couldn't move, there was no pain, but my whole body was stiff. I tried to open my eyes but the lights hurt them. I kept trying. I needed to know where was I was. I didn't know. I croaked out for anyone who could hear me.

"Hello?"

A nurse came by my room and noticed. She came in, smiling politely, checking my vitals.

"Hello dear, how are you feeing?"

'Where am I?"

"New York General"

"What? New York?"

"Yes dear"

"How long have I been out?"

"48 hours"

"2 days? I've been out for 2 days"

I started to panic, why hadn't anyone come to find me? I needed to know what was going on. I tried to move but pain shot through me. The nurse did her best to calm me down.

"Does anyone know I'm here? Why isn't Ranger here?"

"Ranger? My dear, you came in with no ID, no belongings, the police took your prints and are searching local databases for you. Until now, you've been a Jane Doe"

"A Jane Doe? My name is Steph. Stephanie Plum. I'm from Trenton. You won't find me on local databases"

"Well that explains a lot. Crossing state lines is always a problem. I'll call the police and let them know"

"Is there a phone I could use?"

"Of course, I'll bring it through"

She bustled out to go get me a phone and panic shot through me once more, no one knew where I was. Ranger was probably using his full capacity to try and find me but having crossed state lines in to New York, it was going to take him a while. I don't think Bergs wanted anyone to find me. The nurse broke me from my thought.

"Here you go dear, can you remember the number?"

"It's on my mobile" Shit, my phone.

"None of your belongings were with you when you were bought in"

"Can I ask what happened?"

"Well from what I can understand. You were found in a basement, badly beaten. The neighbours had called the police because the house had been abandoned months ago and they thought squatters were trying to get in. When the police arrived and broke in they found you down there with a man wanted for murder. They took him down and rang for an ambulance.

"His name is Leonard Bergs. I'm a bounty hunter and he was a skip of mine, that didn't like me much. I took him on because his victim was a friend of mine, what I don't understand is why my name wasn't on his file when they found out who he was"

"I'm not sure why that never came up dear, but now we know who you are, we can get you home to the right people. I've had another nurse call the police to give them your name'

"Thank you"

"Not a problem dear. You've take quite a beating, but you'll heal I'm sure of it"

I just smiled. She put the radio on as she left my room. I wasn't really paying attention to it until a song came on. I don't know why I suddenly started listening but the first few chords of the piano just drew me in. I listened intently to the words.

_It was so easy that night._

_Should've been strong, yeah I lied._

_Nobody gets me like you._

_Couldn't keep hold of you then,_

_How could I know what you meant?_

_There was nothing to compare to._

_I know everything changes, all the cities and faces._

_But I know how I feel about you._

_There's a mountain between us,_

_But there's one thing I'm sure of,_

_How I feel about you._

_Can we bring yesterday back around?_

_Cause I know how I feel about you now._

_I was dumb, I was wrong, I let you down._

_But I know how I feel about you now._

_All that it takes, one more chance._

_Don't let our last kiss be our last._

_Give me tonight and I'll show you. _

_I know everything changes; I don't care where it takes us._

_Cause I know how I feel about you. _

_Can we bring yesterday back around?_

_Cause I know how I feel about you now._

_I was dumb, I was wrong, I let you down._

_But I know how I feel about you now._

_Not a day passed me by, not a day passed me by._

_When I don't think about you. _

_And there's no moving on, cause I know_

_You're the one._

_And I can't be without you._

The words haunted me. They represented so well, just what I wanted to say to Ranger. Yes he should have kept up his promises but I shouldn't have gone off on my own. We had a lot of work to do but I knew we could work out our differences. I must have fallen asleep with my thoughts because the next I knew I felt warm breathe on my hand. It was Ranger. He was asleep next to my bed and had my hand by his face. My painkillers had worn off again so it was very hard to move, but I managed to say his name. He woke up and smiled a 2000-watt smile.

"Babe" Tears filled his eyes.

"Babe, I'm so so sorry. I really fucked up"

"I did to Ric, it's not just you, or your men, and communications broke down. I think we all thought that it was just going to be easy. I'd just fall in to your life and everything would be perfect. And it wasn't"

He nodded and kissed my hand. He tried to kiss my face and I hissed in pain. I'd got a fractured cheekbone and it caned. He apologized profusely and I gave him my best, fractured smile.

"I was so worried about you babe, when you left and your tracker went back to your apartment I came after you, but when I found everything on the floor destroyed, I was so angry with myself for letting you go, for waving you away. We spent all day and night trying to figure out where you'd gone. We'd just made a break with a house that Berg owned in New York when Morelli called and said that NYPD had a Jane Doe in the hospital claiming to be you. I just downed everything and came to you. You're right, I think I just thought slipping in to a relationship with you was going to be easy, and it wasn't. I didn't think we'd have to work at it. Well it's going to change babe, I'm going to hand control of the expansion over to Tank for a couple of months and we'll concentrate on us"

"You don't have to do that Ric, it's fine, the expansion should be over soon and then we can be together"

"Babe, no, I'm not putting you on hold any more, look where it got us"

I just gave a weak smile and drifted off to sleep again with him whispering sweet Spanish in my ear. That song's words continued to drift through my head.

Within a couple of weeks I was allowed to go home and Ric was there to get me as he had been with me every day since he found me again. I was asleep for the whole drive home and when we got back to Haywood, he lifted me out and carried me in to the building. We got up to five and all the merry men were there, gently hugging me and apologizing for everything. I just kept saying it was ok. All I wanted to do was go to bed. I stayed up talking to them in the control room for as long as I could before I threw in the towel and told them I needed to sleep. They all hugged me again and I said I would see them in the morning. I got up to seven, and let myself in. On the table was a new social security card, cellphone, car keys for my new company SUV and a booklet for Rangeman security training LTD, all of which sticking out of the most gorgeous PRADA bag I had ever seen.

Ranger knew I'd been found with nothing because they found everything on the floor in the car park of my apartment, everything crushed and ruined, including the tracker that would of found me a lot quicker if Bergs hadn't found it first. The booklet contained my training details for the next 4 months; a proficiency exam and then I'd be part of the team. He must have listened to what I said. I was again lost deep in my own thoughts when I felt him come up behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me softly on the cheek.

"Babe, the expansion of the company was never meant to get in the way of anything, especially not in the way of us, and now it's time to get you trained. I can't loose you, but I can't keep you under lock and key either. I'd feel a lot safer knowing you're fully trained. Promise me one thing thought?"

"Anything"

"Never change who you are babe, your instincts are amazing and you never give up. Have faith in yourself. I love you"

"I love you to babe"

He picked me up gently and carried me to a bath full of rose petals, lowering me in, changing all my bandages and plasters, cleaning everything, being careful of my healing bones. I could see the pain in his face when his hands ran over my multi colored bruises.

"Don't blame yourself Ric, please. I was in the wrong place and the wrong time. Bergs is where he belongs now and he can't hurt me any more"

He smiled a small smile, slowly lifting me out of the bath, drying me off and laying me on the bed.

"Sleep babe, you need to rest and I'll have the guys bring the rest of the stuff round from your apartment. I take it you want to move in still?"

"Of course I do, but do me a favour Ric?"

"Anything"

"Take me off the court jesters list!"

"You were never on it babe, it was only meant to be a joke, I'm sorry it hurt you so much"

"Morelli said to me all the time that my life was a joke, and to hear you say essentially the same thing was hurtful. But I know you didn't mean it. It's ok"

His kissed me softly and left me to sleep, the words of that song never leaving my head.

I called him back.

"Yes babe?"

"I don't know any other way to say this so I'm just going to sing it"

One thing Ranger didn't know about Kelly, she was a music major, she taught me to sing, and even if I do say so myself, I was quite good

"OK" Ric sat back down tentatively.

"_Can we bring yesterday back around?_

_Cause I know how I feel about you now._

_I was dumb, I was wrong, I let you down._

_But I know how I feel about you now._

_All that it takes, one more chance._

_Don't let our last kiss be our last._

_Give me tonight and I'll show you. _

_I know everything changes; I don't care where it takes us._

_Cause I know how I feel about you"_

"Babe, I had no idea you could sing that way" he said through a slightly choked voice.

"That song was playing in the hospital while I was waiting to find out if you knew where I was. The words just stayed with me"

"Its beautiful babe, really, you sleep ok, and your right, I don't care where it takes us, coz I know how I feel about you to"

_**THE END.**_

_Thanks for reading guys and gals, hope you enjoyed it, probably it should have been two chapters but I just couldn't stop writing! Please R&R_

_Assassination of President Plum…more coming soon._

_xxx _


End file.
